CRM Software in the GCC and Middle East

Analyst firm Gartner predicts that CRM software sales will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.9% from 2007 to 2012 in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. However, the economies of the GCC are clearly exceeding the rest of the region. While the big 3 CRM vendors of SAP, Oracle and Microsoft continue their regional market share leadership, Gulf states are also adopting software as a service CRM solutions such as Salesforce.com and open source CRM products such as SugarCRM at an increased pace. This Middle East CRM Channel will collect and curate industry updates, research and best practices for the Middle East region.

Middle East CRM

The KSA, UAE and Kuwait are the regional leaders in terms of CRM strategy, software adoption and measured results in the Middle East. While KSA represents about 40% of the more than $5 billion regional computer and IT applications market and has demonstrated years of CRM progress and payback, the economic boom in Dubai is accelerating CRM software demand beyond levels previously witnessed in the Middle East.

Middle East CRM News & Líderes de la Industriahip Views

Epicor strengthens KSA presence

SAP Expands Middle East Footprint in Egypt

ERP and CRM software maker Epicor has appointed three new Value Added Resellers (VARs) in Riyadh and Jeddah to strengthen its regional position. Go To ...

SAP established direct presence in the MENA region in 2007 and has more than quadrupled its initial investment and number of employees in the past three years. Go To ...

Cloud Interest Grows in the Middle East

UAE Pension Authority Picks Oracle

Research shows cloud understanding is surprisingly high in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). 67% of organizations are using or planning cloud initiatives. Go To ...

The UAE's General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) has signed Global Technology Services (GTS) to roll out Oracle E-Business suite and CRM. Go To ...

SAP Launches MENA System

SAP unveiled the Arabic version of a pre-packaged software suite designed for customers in the consumer products and wholesale industries. Go To ...

The 30th annual GITEX Conference and Technology Week was held October 17 to 21 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and both attendance and enthusiasm were clearly up from the prior year. GITEX is effectively capitalizing on the region’s increased global IT presence. In the UAE alone, ICT investment is set to increase by 12.4% to US $4.8 billion this year ... Leer más...

In his presentation at Gitex Dubai, CRMsearch blogger Chuck Schaeffer delivered a presentation titled "The Risks and Rewards of Software as a Service CRM" as a decision framework for Middle Eastern business executives and IT buyers to compare and contrast on-premise and on-demand customer relationship management systems. Leer más...

Analyst research predicts that the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) CRM software market is expected to grow by double digits, in large part due to regional business partners and VARs. The GCC will outpace the rest of the MENA region, with UAE continuing to show the highest growth and KSA continuing to represent the single largest IT and CRM market. Leer más...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is leading the GCC and Middle East region in Customer Relationship Management as well as CRM software results, client retention and manejo de la expriencia del consumidor. The UAE is also piloting more new technology CRM solutions such as computación en la nube, software as a service and industry specific CRM solutions than any other Middle Eastern country. Leer más...

Middle East Market Briefs

Gartner Middle East Survey Puts Enterprise Applications as Top Priority
A Gartner Middle East CIO survey identifies enterprise applications top technology priority for 2011. Cloud computing, including Software as a Service (SaaS), was the number two priority. Middle East CIOs' IT budget projections for 2011 indicate a projected, weighted average budget increase of 6.7 percent. While CIOs do not report IT budgets returning to their 2008 (pre-recession) levels, 70 top CIO's in the Middle East, representing 39 percent of IT spending, are expecting budget increases in 2011.

Scarce Local Data Centers Slow Adoption of Cloud Computing
At a January 2011 CIO gathering in Dubai sponsored by eHosting DataFort (eHDF) and CPI, technology leaders named connectivity and the lack of redundancy in their data centres as the biggest issues that they are facing in the country. Many also stated that there was not much choice when it comes to managed service provision within the country, especially when it comes to local providers. "Many a service provider in the market still do not provide proper detailed SLAs (service level agreements) to clients. Often, this leaves the customer with nothing to compare back to on service provision or to properly measure the quality of the services being provided," said Saleem Ahmed, IT manager at Emirates Steel. Leer más...

Meeza Named Best Cloud Services Provider in Middle East
MEEZA was awarded the Best New Cloud Services Middle East designation at the 2nd Data Centre Strategies Forum, hosted in Abu Dhabi. The Qatar Foundation joint venture company was recognised by the Data Centre Strategies Forum for their outstanding contribution to the development of cloud services across the region. MEEZA's offerings include Managed Services & Data Centre Services, Software-as-a-Service, Consulting Services and Workplace Services. The world-class MEEZA Data Centres, known as M-VAULT, possess managed storage, network and security systems and disaster recovery capabilities.

More References

GITEX Technology Week is the go to annual event for commercial and government organizations from the Middle East, Northern Africa and Indian subcontinent. The regional event has grown to become a combination of three core sectors covering most aspects of the ICT industry – GITEX Business Solutions, GULFCOMMS and Consumer Electronics – spread across five days and evenings of presentations, break-out sessions and business networking. Learn more at Gitex.com or read our recent Gitex Conference Review.

In terms of the industries that we're really talking about for the Middle East and Africa (MEA), it's the industries with professional services, financial services, basically those areas which are at the moment seeing a boom. As Dubai and other middle eastern countries transform their economies from being more oil-based towards more professional services and financial services-oriented, we expect some of the growth in CRM to come into play."

~ Chris Pang, Gartner analyst

Middle East CRM & SaaS Forecasts

Analyst firms forecast the Middle East and GCC to outpace most of the rest of the world in IT and SaaS investment and technology adoption.

IDC forecasts the global SaaS industry will increase sales from $13.1 billion in 2009 to $40.5 billion in 2014, and that the 2010 shift to subscription software will result in a $7 billion decline in world-wide traditional software license revenue. The research firm indicates Europe, the Middle East and Africa account for just a small piece of the SaaS market, 13% in 2009, versus 74% in the Americas. By 2014, IDC projects the region will increase its share of such sales to 35%.

IDC is forecasting a year‐over‐year growth in IT spend for the region of 11.0% in 2010, compared to 9.1% for Central and Eastern Europe, 6.3% for Latin America, 4.4% for Asia-Pacific, and just 1.2% for Western Europe.

The Middle East and Africa is set to account for 17% of the world's net ICT expenditure from 2010 through 2012.

Companies in the MEA region are set to spend US $49.77 billion in 2010, with the Gulf region contributing about 25% of the total.

The UAE is projected to spend US $4.79 billion in ICT investment in 2010 alone, an increase of 12.4% on 2009.

The UAE leads all the Middle Eastern and African countries with US $983 in IT spending per capita.